Improvement in cotton-presses



UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-PRESSES.`

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,202, dated January 26, 1558.

' To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, D. G. OLMsTEAD, of Vicksburg, in the county of Varren and State of Mississippi, have invented anew and Improved Press for Pressing Cotton, Hay, and other Similar Materials; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification- Figure I being a plan of the press; Fig. 2, a front elevation thereof; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section thereof in the plane indicated by the line :v x, Fig. l, Figs. et and 5, views of parts detached.

Like letters designate corresponding in all the figures.

The necessary framework A of the press is firmly secured in the gin-house in the usual manner. Within the frame-work is a suitable box, B, for the reception of the cotton before it is pressed, the cover G of which is arranged in any ordinary way. On the under side of the cover are transverse grooves a a, for the insertion of the bands or ties'used in baling, as represented in Fig. n The upper parts O. portion of the box l5, which is to hold the pressed bales, has hinged sides and ends b b, in order to be opened, for thepurpose of binding and removing the bales. A follower, D,

which forms the bottom of' the cotton-box,'

slides freely up and down in said box. Its upper surface is provided with grooves c c, corresponding with those in the cover, and for the same purpose. Lifting-bars E E are pivoted or hinged to the bottom of this follower, the opposite ends of which bars are provided with friction-rollers d d, which run on rails e e or in equivalent guides on the top of' the platform F, substantially as shown in the drawings. A clevis or link, f, is secured to the lower ends of each bar, being most properly hinged to the projecting pivots ofthe friction-rollers d d. A chain or rope, G, extends from each clevis to a fusee-wheel, II, fixed on a perpendicular shaft, I. The wheel II may be cast solid, and consists of a plate, g, and spiral flanges 7i h on the opposite surfaces of the plate, starting from the periphery thereof, but gradually approaching the center as they wind around till they reach the shaft I, substantially as shown in Fig. 4. These fianges are of sufficient strength to sustain the tension of the chain, and from a point at the periphery gradually increase in width toward the shaft sufficiently to cause the chain or rope tov wind in the proper positions on the said :flanges and the shaft, as indicated in Fig. 5. Then the resistance of' the cotton in the act of pressing is lightest, the chains commence to wind at the greatest distance from the center, thereby causing the follower to rise in the box B most rapidly 5 but as the resistance increases they gradually approach the shaft, thereby increasing the leverage. At short intervals holes c' z' are made in the flanges, into any of which the chains may be hooked, so as to vary the leverage according to the condition of the'cotton, the'alnount placed in the box to be pressed, or the strength of the horses or mules which are generally employed in pressi-ng. Thus, byphooking or attaching the chains at the outer extremities of the flanges when the power is sufficient, the pressing of the bale is accomplished by the time the chains reach the shaft, and thereby the work is expedited; but if the power is not sufficient to do this the chains can be hooked nearer to the shaft, so as to perform the latter part of the pressing by winding the chains on the shaft, and thereby Iincreasing the leverage. The chains can in this manner be attached at different points on the flanges to suit the strength employedin pressing or the condition or quantity of the cotton or other articleto be pressed. An arm, K, is secured to the shaft I near its bottom, to which are attached the horses or mules used in operating the machine.

I do not claim the employment of a fusee-` wheel, single or double, for the purpose of pressing; but

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Providing the fusee-wheel with holes or equivalent means of attachment at intervals from end to end of the flanges thereof, so that the leverage of the press maybe readily varied when desired, substantially as specified.

The above specification of my improved machine for pressing cotton and other materials signed by me this 15th day of August, 1857.

DAVID G. OLMSTEAD.

Vitnesses: d

It. F. Oscoop, J. Q. Anims. 

